He has won the Caldecott Medal and five Caldecott Honors, five Coretta Scott King Awards, five New York Times Ten Best Illustrated Awards, the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and the Society of Illustrators' Original Art Show Lifetime Achievement Award, and many other prizes and honors. Jerry Pinkney is one of America's most admired children's book illustrators. For thirty-two years he taught at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Lester has distinguished himself as a civil rights activist, musician, photographer, radio talk-show host, and professor.

In addition to his critically acclaimed writing career, Mr. He is also a National Book Award Finalist, a National Book Critics Circle nominee, and a recipient of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. Julius Lester is a celebrated author whose accolades include a Newbery Honor and a Coretta Scott King Award. This carefully crafted updating begs to be read aloud for its rich, rhythmic storytelling flow, and the suitably oversize illustrations amplify the text.' - Publishers Weekly 'A great American hero comes fully to life in this epic retelling filled with glorious, detailed watercolors. 'Another winning collaboration from the master storyteller and gifted artist of Tales of Uncle Remus fame.' - School Library Journal The story is told with rhythm and wit, humor and exageration, and with a heart-catching immediacy that connects the human and the natural world. * 'This is a tall tale and heroic myth, a celebration of the human spirit. Nothing can stop John Henry, and his courage stays with us forever. He's stronger than ten men and can dig through a mountain faster than a steam drill. He grew so fast, he burst right through the porch roof, and laughed so loud, he scared the sun! Soon John Henry is swinging two huge sledgehammers to build roads, pulverizing boulders, and smashing rocks to smithereens.

When John Henry was born the birds, bears, rabbits, and even a unicorn came to see him. Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney's warm, humorous retelling of a popular African-American folk ballad.

John henry lester